Best place to sleep, Truck stop? Rest Area? Advice please.

My favorite places to stop for a a break was rest areas that were generally safe and had restrooms close by. I almost always had food and a beverage with me anyway. However in real life I got to where I could when my driving day was over. This is one thing drivers have less control over. It is also very location dependent.

 

Start early and end early. Get into that truck stop before 5pm. Find an end spot if possible, with a non-reefer trailer next to you.
Wake up EARLY the next morning, take care of getting coffee, morning sandvich, bathroom, etc. All set? Maybe use the bathroom once more to get rid of that first cup of coffee. All set?
Clock in and complete pre-trip. Pull into fuel island, fuel, and hit the road.

 

Avoid rest areas during the day. They get too noisy especially those on I 81 in PA that are close to the highway. Truck stop during the day off the interstate. Rest Area is ok as long as you have food with you but again, further away from the highway, the better.

 

I’m not bashing you, okay?

You can’t go into trucking thinking “either truck stop or pickle park.” There are things that factor in.
1. The Load
I pull high value loads. There are 2 safe spots for a high value load. Shipper. Receiver. If you can’t stay overnight, ask about dropping the trailer in their property. They will normally allow this. The safety of the load comes before my comfort. If you are pulling a big dollar load, your company may tell you what area you have to get out of or get passed before you stop. Some times, you may have to do a 10 hour break at your shipper to be able to do this.
2. The area.
There are certain areas where there aren’t any truck stops. Or in my guy’s case, they have you stage at a wide spot on the road and wait for a police escort. For all the companies that say they will fire you for parking on an on ramp, some times this wide spot on the road where they want you to stop and stage is an on ramp. So what do you do? Company policy is usually a hard rule. If you have to have a LEO escort and the cops tell you where to stage at, you follow their direction. When some loser calls in on you and your company idiots start asking you about why you’re breaking company policy, explain to them and chastise them for listening to some busybody loser. It won’t happen again.
If you are going into an area that doesn’t have truckstops, and few pickle parks, you may have to park outside of that area, within striking range, then swoop in, and get out. Unfortunately, this is where the boneheads in the office will fail you. They will be telling you to stand by and wait and there’s nowhere to stand by. Plus, the clock is ticking.
3. Blizzards and bad accidents.
In the South, they will have the tendency to shut down the roads when the bridges get icy. If you get caught in one of these areas, everyone is going to have to spend the night on the shoulder of the road.
In big fatality accidents, the road is going to be blocked. That’s when I will roll down the window slightly and catch a nap in the driver seat. You have to be ready to move. No, it’s NOT comfortable.
4. 34restart.
Get out of the truck. Go find a motel with truck parking, with a restaurant within walking distance, go shower, eat like a king and lay in a king bed. It will keep you from going nuts like those guys that never get out of the truck.